Eye Shine in Birds

Absence of eye shine and tapetum in the heterogeneous eye of Anthocharis butterflies (Pieridae).

Insect eyes are composed of spectrally heterogeneous ommatidia, typically with three different types. The ommatidial heterogeneity in butterflies can be identified non-invasively by the colorful eye shine, the reflection from the tapetal mirror located at the proximal end of the ommatidia, which can be observed by epi-illumination microscopy. Since the color of eye shine is determined by the sp...

Birds' eye view: a decade of perspectives.

O of Jan Drake’s happy innovations as editor of other significant events (i.e., the first issue of Genetics in 1916). These have fulfilled the retrospective function. Genetics was to initiate the publication of an essay, entitled Perspectives, at the beginning of each issue. The perspective and prospective functions have been achieved by articles that have integrated classic studies His idea wa...

The Birds-eye View: Neuropsychology of Adhd

A Birds Eye View on System Identification

System identification is concerned with obtaining good models from data, i.e. with data driven modeling. In this contribution the aim is to explain and discuss ideas, general approaches and theories underlying identification of linear systems. Identification of linear systems is a nonlinear problem and is prototypical also for many parts of identification of nonlinear systems.

Ultraviolet vision in birds: the importance of transparent eye media

Ultraviolet (UV)-sensitive visual pigments are widespread in the animal kingdom but many animals, for example primates, block UV light from reaching their retina by pigmented lenses. Birds have UV-sensitive (UVS) visual pigments with sensitivity maxima around 360-373 nm (UVS) or 402-426 nm (violet-sensitive, VS). We describe how these pigments are matched by the ocular media transmittance in 38...